「And so, you came back empty-handed.」
「Watch your wording.」
In the end, I left the student council room without finding an answer.
If the last question had been “what do you think about her?”, I would have answered that she’s an important comrade. Because that’s how I truly feel.
But Misaki-san asked “what do you want to do with her?”. I think it’s a question not just about the present, but also about the future.
「You know, Shougo.」
Perhaps unable to watch me lost in thought any longer, Daiki sighs and speaks up.
「You’re overthinking it. To begin with.」
「No, it’s not that simple…」
It’s not easy to answer what I want to do with Asaki, is it?
I can imagine that Asaki probably doesn’t want the omiai. It might sound conceited, but after receiving such obvious affection from her every day, if I heard she was actually positive about this omiai, I’d be shocked.
「You know, Shou-nii.」
「What’s up, Hikari──wait, why are you raising your fist?」
It’s like she’s about to punch me. Even as a joke, getting hit by you would hurt a lot, so I’d rather you didn’t…
「Ah, I’m not going to hit you yet. I’ll forgive you if you answer properly.」
「Yet, you say…」
So that means I’ll get punched later, right? You say you’ll forgive me if I answer properly, but what exactly are you going to ask…
「What do you think about us? Ah, I say us, but Dai-nii doesn’t matter.」
Hikari asks me in an unusually serious tone. Which makes me feel all the more sorry for Daiki being told he doesn’t matter.
Well, putting that aside, what do I think about Hikari and the others, huh.
「Of course, as important comrades──Eh!?」
As I was saying what I thought, Hikari’s fist came down. Why? I was answering seriously too, you know?
「I know that!! I mean, what do you think of us as girls!! About Asaki-chan, Natsu-nee, and me!!」
So she means what I think of them as the opposite sex. I thought I’d be asked this someday, but I didn’t expect it to be now.
I know that I’ve been unconsciously, or rather consciously, avoiding thinking about this because I don’t want to ruin our current relationship.
「Well… I like all three of you, but.」
「But, what?」
「…I can’t choose who I like the most right now.」
I know better than anyone that this is an arrogant answer. I even hate myself for answering as if I have the right to choose.
But there’s no way I could be so dense as not to notice the affection coming from all three of them.
It would be better if this was just my misunderstanding. I’d just end up embarrassing myself. But I don’t want to embarrass them.
「Shou-nii, what are you talking about?」
「Eh?」
Hikari looked at me with an exasperated gaze in response to my answer. Could it be that I was really misunderstanding?
「Ah, ahh, sorry. Yeah, right, saying I have to choose is presumptuous, thinking I’m liked by all three of you is just arrogance.」
「It’s okay, you’re right about that part!!」
I’m not sure what’s okay, but apparently I was right.
But being told so clearly is quite embarrassing.
When I glanced at Natsu, I saw her looking down with a red face. Yeah, it must be embarrassing to suddenly have this kind of conversation…
「I mean, why do you have to choose one?」
「What do you mean?」
──Light Novels──
──Read Here──
I don’t quite understand what Hikari is saying. Whether it’s ethically or by common sense, isn’t it kind of unfaithful not to choose one person?
「So, does that mean the ones who aren’t chosen have to give up on Shou-nii?」
「Um… well, that’s…」
In common stories, I’d have to tell them to give up. No matter how much they care for the other person, isn’t it too cruel to ask them to continue an unrequited love? I understand in my head that this is supposed to be the least I can do to be sincere.
「It’s not like I want to marry you just because I like you, you know?」
「Marriage, that’s quite a leap.」
With the specific word “marriage” being brought up, I can’t help but be conscious of it. Although Hikari says she doesn’t want to marry me.
「I just want to be with Shou-nii. Or if Shou-nii chooses someone, whether it’s one of us or someone else, do you want to be apart from us?」
「Of course not!!」
I can’t help but raise my voice at those words. Want to be apart from Hikari, Asaki, or Natsu? There’s no way──
──Ahh, so that’s it.
Once I realized it, I felt something fall into place in my heart. Seeing me like this, Hikari nodded with a satisfied look.
「Hey, Shou-nii? We’re not normal, right?」
I could understand what she meant by those words. Especially with Daiki and Hikari, they’ve always been beyond the norm, and even I can’t be considered normal after that experience.
「Then isn’t it okay for our values not to be normal too?」
「I-I’m normal, okay?」
Natsu, read the room. I get what you want to say, though…
「Of course, if Shou-nii wants to choose someone, that’s fine too. But that’s not the case now, right?」
「Yeah… at least for now, I can’t choose anyone.」
That’s how I honestly feel.
If it’s considered unfaithful, then maybe it is. If it’s considered arrogant, then maybe that’s not wrong either.
「Besides, we’re still high school students. There’s no need to rush into becoming adults, is there?」
「…I see, yeah.」
The time may come when I’ll have to choose one person.
But it doesn’t have to be now. Because we’re still kids.
It seems that because I’ve been mingling with these dirty adults for so long, I thought I had become an adult myself.
「Yeah, then we know what we have to do, right!?」
「I know. We catch Asaki and drag her back to the academy. Right?」
Satisfied with my answer, Hikari nodded with a big smile.
「I have the date of the omiai from Misaki-san… but it’s tomorrow, so we need to hurry.」
That said, there’s nothing we particularly need to prepare.
As Hikari said, we’re still kids. So let’s be selfish like kids.
Asaki might get angry and ask why we came. But I have things I want to say to Asaki too.
Maybe she’s doing this to keep us out of it, but don’t go deciding things on your own. With that resolve, I clench my fist tightly, renewing my determination.
「Umm, Shou-chan? Misaki-san is the student council president, right? Since when did you get so close that you’re calling her by her first name?」
「Ah.」
I realized I had forgotten to mention something important to everyone.
「Hey, Shougo?」
「What’s up, Daiki?」
Daiki called out to me as if he wanted to say something. Probably something like offering his cooperation──
「You’re quite the ladies’ man. Yo, harem bastard!!」
I swung my clenched fist down towards Daiki.